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Suggestions on glossy finish on knife handle, CA glue or?

Hi Guys,

After learning a lot form the last thread (http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/sh...-DIY-wa-handle), I started my 2nd attempt this afternoon on a 210 aoki deba. Looking at the custom handles from the pro here, seems applying some sort of glossy finish is a pretty common practice (I could be wrong!).

From my woodturning experience, CA glue followed by high grit sanding and buffing is what we use the most to obtain a ultra-shiny finish, but that is mostly done with the help of a lathe turning the blank. Due to the small size, usually multiple coats of CA glue could be applied rather easily. As of knife handle, I don't know if it is easy to do so, and I am thinking it is actually quite tricky to get a nice coverage evenly, because thin CA glue dries quite fast (I don't use the thick CA, as I think it doesn't look good as a finish).

So I would like to hear from the experts here, do you use CA glue? If so, how do you apply the glue?

I have another idea, to use those epoxy based glossy, transparent "liquid glass". As they have significantly lower viscosity (even coating, would be too thick once sand back) than normal epoxy and will not turn milky overtime. Maybe worth a try?

As much as I like the look and feel of natural oil finish (which I use for almost all my woodworking stuff). Wouldn't some type of glue finish makes the handle more resilient to accidental dents and dirt from sharpening?

CA finish can be slippy in the kitchen, carnauba wax based friction polish on a mop gives a decent shine that is easy to redo as it fades from use. Tru oil can be tacky on oily woods but does build to a good finish on most other woods I've tried it on.

I also use CA glue only to fill voids in the wood. I also think it hardens the outer wood just a bit which can be nice. This said, I do the CA at about 220 grit and don't use it after that. After going through a range of grits, I get to 800 grit and then move on to 0, 00, 000, and 0000 steel wool for the final finish. Between each of the steel wool grits I use pure tung oil thinned with 30-40% mineral spirits for more penetration. I find that any gloss finish wears off on kitchen knives (or any knife that will actually be used) and tends to look cheap pretty quickly.

Gidgee acts a little bit different than other woods.
If you power buff it the grain and any figure is prone to smearing.

The best finish I have seen on Gidgee was by Knife maker Russ Andrews.
He sands the wood beyond 1000 grit.
Then with a few drops of Tung or Danish oil rubs it into the wood.
Wipe off all excess oil between coats. Repeat until it looks good.
Then apply paste wax like you are polishing a pair of shoes.
Let sit about 30 minutes then hand buff with an old towel.
Then apply a couple more coats of wax.